Jay Carney said Obama would ‘prefer’ Clinton over Sanders

“I think the president has signaled while still remaining neutral that he supports Secretary Clinton’s candidacy and would prefer to see her as the nominee,” Jay Carney said.

“I think he is maintaining the tradition of not intervening in a party primary. But I don’t think there is any doubt that he wants Hillary to win the nomination and believes she would be the best candidate in the fall and the most effective as president in carrying forward what he has achieved.”

Carney added that he is not expecting Obama to make a public endorsement until the highly intensified race between Clinton and Sanders cools down.

“[He won’t] officially embrace her unless and until it’s clear that she’s going to be the nominee,” added Carney, who left the Obama administration last year.

Obama is amazed at Sanders overwhelming support

Sanders gave Clinton a major knock on Tuesday evening with a resounding victory in New Hampshire’s Democratic presidential primary. He reduced Clinton 60 percent to her 39 percent, a much large gap than most polls projected before ballots were cast.

Sanders also shocked voters by Clinton’s narrow win against him in Iowa’s caucuses last week very slim margin win.

Tuesday’s results has ignited an increasingly tougher Democratic nominating battle before the party’s next primary in South Carolina later this month.

Sanders has surprisingly overturned, Clinton held most of the cards before the Feb. 27 contest, owning a nearly 30-point lead over Sanders there, according to the latest RealClearPolitics average of polls.

Obama has been on a neutral stand in the Democratic presidential primary so far despite Clinton’s former role as secretary of State in his administration. He nonetheless expressed surprise before Tuesday’s contest over the massive support Sanders is generating with voters.